Politics & Government

State Senate Eyes Voter ID Bill

Supporters say it will stop fraud while opponents say it will be burdensome.

A state Senate committee on Jan. 24 heard the merits and fears of a new bill that would require some form of in an election in New Hampshire.

State Sen. Russell Prescott, R-Kingston, the prime sponsor of the bill, stated that it would only focus on the process of obtaining a ballot, not any other aspect of voting, such as registering to vote or proving proof of domicile. That process, he said, will continue to be handled by city and town clerks. He amended the original bill after meeting officials from the and the clerk’s association, which had raised concerns about the bill.

The bill would require a number of potential identification sources that have a picture and address, including a driver’s license, state-issued ID card, Armed Services identification, a U.S. passport, a valid student ID card, or any other local, state, or federal identification that contained a name and photo.

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“It’s simply connecting a picture with a name,” he said.

If approved, the bill would be implemented in 2016, allowing more than enough time for every voter to make the necessary preparations, he said.

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, the assistant Secretary of State, said his office was supporting the bill. He said the amendment made it more effective and commended Prescott for working with all involved to improve the bill. Scanlan said there was some concern about expenses in the bill, including having his office pay for voting IDs and the implementation of computers and cameras at voting polls to take pictures of voters who may not have IDs when they go to vote, in order to have a record of who votes. However, he also noted that the state had received $1.4 million worth of federal Help America Vote Act funds in order to improve elections and noted that these funds could be used to offset the bill’s costs.

Tricia Piecuch, the president of the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks Association, who also works in Nashua, also spoke in favor of the bill, saying that Prescott had worked to alleviate some of the problems they had with the bill. She said by the time it was implemented, most people would have some form of ID to adhere to the law.

“We didn’t get everything we wanted,” she said, “but we feel that this is something that will work for everyone.”

However, not everyone was supportive of the bill.

Douglas McNutt, an advocacy director for AARP, opposed the bill, saying he worried that it would disenfranchise elderly voters who may no longer drive or may not have the ability or time to obtain another acceptable identification.

“My principal concern is that there not be something in his bill that would prevent people from voting in their later years,” he said.

Melissa Barnard of America Votes, a nonprofit voter advocacy organization, also spoke against the bill. She called the proposal “a significant change” to the current process that could create "confusion and chaos" at the polls. She said, if approved, a robust education campaign and training program for clerks would be needed to clearly communicate the changes to the public. She worried that the new law would suppress voters because people without picture identification now would assume they would not be able to vote and would stay home.

Skip Murphy, a blogger with Granite Grok, who was also video recording the hearing, also spoke in favor of the bill. He said the recent video sting in and the voter registration fraud perpetuated by ACORN proved that voter fraud would have been accomplished and no one would have known.


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